The Dichotomy of PCs/Consoles

There is a natural order to all things. The chicken creates the egg
which creates the chicken. Neither the chicken nor the egg can exist
without the other. This is much the same when it comes to the
relationship between PCs and Consoles, and in more ways than you might
realize.

Now before any PC/Console bashing gets going let me say this. If you
start a 'debate' on this subject I'm going to reach through the
computer and "chicken" slap you. There is no 'debate.' Both had
advantages, and both have disadvantages. It's a matter of preference,
and if you think your opinion is more important than any other person's
on here then piss off. This blog is about facts and the relationship
that exists between PCs and Consoles.

Going back to the analogy it's easy to take it at face value and say
'why yes, it's true. Neither the PC market nor the Console market would
exist without the other.' However I would say the analogy is much more
than just that simple. Instead I would like people to think of it like
this.

The technological advancement in PCs brings about technological advancements for future Consoles.

Now that is still fairly simple, being that it is a relationship, but
for now I want to focus on just this. I think it's probably the most
obvious relationship that exists. Consoles that we have now, are about
the same as good-great PCs 5-6 years ago. And that right there is one
of the many reasons why PCs are coming back now.

It's an inevitable cycle regardless of games. As consoles get older,
people looking for the top-end gaming experiences move to PCs. This is
due to a number of factors, but most have to do with how fast
technology advances. The best example I can give is of Battlefield 3.
The differences between the PC version of the game and the Console
version of the game are noticeable by pretty much anyone that sees the
two. The PC version runs smoother, looks better, and allows for a lot
more to be going on (including 64 player matches which is IMO the real
Battlefield experience). It was my same argument when I denounced Bad
Company 2. The console version just feels like Battlefield: Lite.

Especially when you also consider that the PC version can run at 1080p at over 60fps on a high end gaming PC.

The list of examples though goes much beyond that. Skyrim, Deus Ex,
Portal 2, all play much better on PC than on Console. And not just a
little better, but much better. And what is more important to note is
that these games all released last year and all of them were born from
PC centered developers, or made from PC centered prequels.

This is in large part due to the cycle that I talked about earlier.
Because in addition to the cycle affecting technology it also affects
games.

The standardization of consoles allows developers to push the
limits of games and allows them to maximize the resources available to
them.

It's no secret that the best console games come out at the end of the
life of each console, but what people who aren't into PC gaming don't
realize is that at the end of the console cycle is when PCs really pull
away from consoles. This occurs due to 2 main factors.

1) Technology advances very quickly over a period of 4-5 years

2) As technology advances limits are able to be pushed further on a PC than on a console.

This means that for developers looking to make the best game possible
they start on high-end PC development and then scale back what they
need to for the consoles. This creates a very noticeable difference
when compared side-by-side.

It's a natural cycle and it's starting again. As consoles are
outmatched more people take up the mouse and keyboard. As new consoles
come out, people go back to the controller. It's the way things go, and
I for one am happy to see it be like that, because it means that there
is still life in gaming. And that I think we will all agree is a very
good thing.

I hope you enjoyed my return to blogging. I don't know how active
it'll be because I really want to get back to doing more important blogs
like this, however I don't want to forget the fun I had doing things
like the WGWC. For now though I'm going to ease back into it, and we'll
see how it goes from there.